Operation: Project HumEx Ultima
by halfhuman123
Summary: The continuation of OSaR. Project HumEx Ultima is a-go. Some Skiline in later chapters, PrivateOC friendship. Story finished, with a bonus at the end! Huzzah!
1. Via Media

Operation: Project HumEx Ultima

A/N: Welcome back! When we left off, everyone had just escaped the explosion of the base, including Dr. Blowhole and Mr. Hawkins (Who's a doctor, but he doesn't like to be called 'Doctor'.). Skipper finds out that Marlene was the animal on the operating table, but doesn't know what's happened to her so far, as she's still asleep. They're headed to the medic van now, so we had better get back to the story and see what's going to happen. Enjoy!

_**Chapter 1: Via Media (The Middle of the Road)**_

The air in the medic van was still and smelled like a hospital. Skipper already knew that Marlene would have hated it. All the while she was cradled in his arms, the female breathed deeply, sound asleep and not moving at all. He was still a little worried about that, since she hadn't woken up, not through her five story fall, not through her being carried the whole way here.

General opened the doors for them, telling the others to wait outside. They protested loudly, but Pole stood firm, not really explaining himself as he closed the doors. Navi pouted outside and walked to another van, where they had some food and standard first aid. "This sucks. I want to know what happened to Marlene." She got a small band-aid on her paw, but nothing else. Kowalski and Private each got one on their heads, and Rico got two on his flippers, plus the one on the bump on his head. Navi turned to the guys and took a bite out of the fish she was holding, contemplating the situation they were currently in.

Technically, they had won, but at what cost? Marlene was hurt badly, and both Blowhole and Hawkins, one of his lead scientists, had gotten away. "So... Do you think they got that stuff into her?" She asked, her voice quiet. Even Rico's face turned serious when he looked at the scientist for the answer.

He frowned, and for the first time in a long time, his notes couldn't help him. "I don't know, honestly. I mean, there's a definite point of access at the base of her skull, with the indicating serum color... But who knows how much she was injected with. Or if it'll even take affect." He reasoned, moving out of the way so the rescued victims could get some help. They weren't really injured. In fact, they (a large crow, a turtle, and a boar) were kept really well, considering they were prisoners. One of them, the crow, overheard the conversation, and hopped over to where they were.

"You talkin' 'bout the ottah?" She said, in a very Boston accent. Navi tilted her head, and asked her about any information she may have. "Yeah, yeah, sure, sure. She was neah my cage. They stuck 'er right in the neck with this weird blue jelly." She ripped at a piece of mango in her wing, then continued. "That stuff that looked like the crab's blood, y'know." Wait a minute... crab's blood? That wasn't normally blue. Well, in a certain type of crab it was, but not the HumEx... At least, not that he thought. "Like... whenevah they get cut, out comes this blue jelly stuff. But anyway, she was a sweet ting. Nice, like my sistah, y'know? Then they took 'eh."

The crow's face dropped, obvious sadness in her eyes. "They took 'eh, and when they brought 'eh past me again... she was so quiet. It was scary kinda, y'know?" The crow almost whispered. Private asked her if she was awake, or at least moving, and the crow looked as if that was a strange question that she was actually expecting. "She was awake, but she weren't movin' none. Which was weird, y'know, on account of befoah she was shakin' and screamin' tryin' to get out of 'eh cage befoah. "

She looked around and noticed that the turtle and boar were both being taken home, and she was being offered a ride as well. Anyway she could get home without flying, and since she didn't know where she was... the ride was accepted graciously. She said goodbye to our heroes and left with the others, chomping down on the mango happily.

-----------------------------------

The General had begged Skipper for several minutes to go get looked at. Well, not begged, but as close as he could get to begging. He only agreed after the doctors told him they would need to examine Marlene in private. He went to the nurse, finding he only needed a sling and a brace, before he rushed as quickly as he could to wait for the doctor outside of Marlene's room. As soon as the doc was finished, he asked if General minded if the others were brought in really quick. They would need to hear this too, and Kowalski could be of some help. When everyone finally made it inside of Marlene's room, the doctor began.

"Marlene is fine, physically. Everything is in working order, and she should be able to wake up shortly, though I think she's suffering from some exhaustion, how deeply she's sleeping." The doctor, a large owl, looked down at Marlene, concern riddling his face. Skipper thought about what they had been doing. The past twenty four hours were full of driving, fighting... and insane doctors for Marlene, it would be a wonder if she weren't completely tuckered out. Private knocked him out of his momentary stupor to ask when they could take her home. A very good question, thought Skipper. "Hmm... Well, as soon as she wakes up, we'll run a few tests, and you'll be home free. We also found your car, if you want to take it to get home." He meant Marlene's car, and Skipper glared at him about to tell him so, but it's not like he'd know that. The male held his beak.

Not all the penguins were convinced, however. Kowalski still wanted to know about her mental condition, the HumEx Serum inside of her, and the three dots. The doctor shook his head, telling him they weren't able to examine the dots yet, or the amount of serum inside of her, and he assured them that her mental condition would be the first thing they checked when she awoke. Skipper could accept that answer, and waited for the doctor to finish his report, which was just jibberish only Kowalski understood. At the end, only Kowalski wanted to stay and see how much he could help with by donating his scientific expertise. Rico went to reload on supplies, and Private and Navi went to go play.

"Well..." The General looked down at his smaller friend and smiled, quite pleased with how the day went. He was rescued by his daughter, got to see a youth he once knew as a fully fledged commander in action, and if all went well, within the next few hours he'd be able to go home. All he wanted to do now was... "Did you want to sit and talk over a nice fish, Skipper? My treat." The small penguin stood still for a second before he turned around and grinned widely at the General.

"As long as it's your treat... how can I refuse?" He said cheekily, following the bigger mammal to a table outside the room.

------------------------------------------

The otter opened her eyes. Where was she? How did she get here!? And... she lifted a paw to scratch the back of her head. Why did her head hurt so badly? She looked around, her headache making her ears ring a little. As she watched, and waited, she could hear a conversation happening right outside of the room she was in.

"...and you know Skipper was hurt the worst in the fight."

Skipper was hurt? The otter's headache seared as she tried to remember... who Skipper was. Why was it that hearing that filled her with such sadness? _Because it's my fault... _The pain from her headache was becoming too much to bear.

"Really? Wow, I haven't gotten to hear about that fight. You know if--"

"GAAAAHHH!" The two nurses, who were talking outside her door at the time, rushed in to see what the matter was with the otter. She was clutching her head, and tears were streaming down her face. They checked her blood pressure, to make sure everything was alright, and were about to give her an injection when several vials right next to them exploded, causing them to scream and back away very quickly. One nurse looked at the other, and commanded her to get the General and Skipper while she tried to calm the patient down. She nodded and ran out, leaving the first to try and console the distressed mammal. But it was no real use. She just kept shaking her head and screaming "Stop it... STOP IT!", and more things in the room shattered and burst. A few things even started projecting themselves at the nurse, who was trying her best just to not get hurt.

…..........................

The General and Skipper were enjoying fish together, talking about memories past. It was amazing to the polar bear to see how much the young upstart Skipper had changed. He used to be such a hell raiser, doing basically whatever he pleased. It was refreshing to see him in such a role as a leader! Just when they had gotten to discussing Manfreedi and Johnson, a nurse from the back labs rushed up to them, looking frazzled to say the least. After she caught her breath, she nearly screamed. "It's the otter, it's Marlene! Something's very wrong!" Skipper didn't miss a beat as he slid off past her, the General trying to get the nurse to calm down, advising her to get something strong to drink and take a load off.

When he arrived in the room, Skipper was already trying to talk Marlene down, but it was like he was speaking a different language. There were pieces of glass everywhere, some of the plates and bowls that were metal were thrown about the room. Had this otter gone completely insane, or did she just have a temper tantrum? Her eyes opened finally, after about five minutes of screaming, and she looked at Skipper, a strange look on her face. She was distracted just enough for the nurse to inject her with a tranquilizer, the sight of which made Skipper look away, but he never left the otter's side. She looked as if she was going to scream again, but instead she just sighed and reclined onto the bed, her eyes glazed.

"Marlene?" Skipper asked, grabbing one of her paws. The General watched the interaction between the two. Something was wrong. The way Skipper talked and told stories from the zoo, the two were like best friends. Now, it looked like he was reaching out to someone who didn't know him. She shifted her head towards him, in an eerily slow fashion, and her eyes adjusted, fixating on him. She studied his face carefully. "Marlene, are you alright?"

General tried to get Skipper's attention, but Marlene spoke up first. "Am I Marlene? Who are you?"


	2. Quid Agis

A/N: Finally! A new chapter! Yup, for those of you actually reading, I have posted again. A bit of a filler chapter, but necessary. It'll get better later, I promise, and I won't blame you if you don't review. But please, PLEASE, don't let that stop you from reviewing. PLEASE REVIEW! I shall give you cookies if you do.

_**Chapter 2: Quid Agis (What's Going On?)**_

Pole and Skipper were watching her with shock, unblinking, and she stared right back at him, her eyes hooded a bit. She had to be kidding, right? That Marlene, always cracking jokes... though... when she didn't say "gotcha!" or anything, they started to worry. "Marlene... come on, Marlene, quit playing." Her brown eyes just shifted to the polar bear general, who gazed at her mercilessly. He had to hand it to her, she didn't back down from it, not once. Instead, she dragged her gaze to Skipper, and watched him with a blank stare. "Marlene... it's me. It's Skipper, remember?"

Brown eyes opened wider, and the female's heart rate spiked. The two soldiers looked over at the machinery and then back to her, now sitting up all the way and looking at Skipper with pleading eyes. "S...S-Skipper?" She grabbed his flipper and pulled him closer to her. "You're not hurt?" When he shook his head, she let him go, and sat back, slightly disappointed. He briefly thought of asking her if he should be, but didn't. "No, I was hoping you **wouldn't** be... I'm glad to see you aren't." At least, he didn't think he did... Her shy smile lit up her face a little bit, and she looked like how she used to before... whatever happened to her. "Even though I don't even know who you are."

The General excused himself, and asked if he could borrow the penguin, much to his objection. "Skipper, are you certain that's Marlene?" Skipper basically screamed that it was, and General Pole tried to keep him quiet before... Too late. Rico burst in, holding a flame thrower and looking for the trouble, followed closely by Kowalski and his notepad, and Private, riding on Navi. Why the small one was riding his daughter, he had no clue, but that wasn't going to fly. He let it slide for now, but had to remember to get right on that later. The doctor came up to them just then, asking for an explanation to the noise. Skipper told them, word for word, what happened in the room, and everyone was speechless. What they were going to do about it was a common concern, and the doctor comfortably answered that for them.

"Nothing." Before six animals could yell at him about the answer, he elaborated. "You," He pointed to Navi, Skipper, Rico, Private and the General. "Are going to stay here. Kowalski." He looked to the penguin, and he looked as if he was going to scream like a little girl. "If you could come with me, I'd really like your hel--" That was when Kowalski actually did scream and jump up and down. Of course, as soon as he realized he was being stared at by everyone in the facility, he regained his composure and calmly agreed to help. "Good." The doctor was apprehensive about the tall penguin helping, but with only one other scientist on hand, one who had never seen the HumEx serum in action, or at all, his knowledge would be helpful. The three brilliant minds vanished into the room with Marlene in it, and both Rico and Skipper looked as if they should be in there with her. Rico because she was a great friend. She would talk to him, and enjoy the 'kaboom' with him. Skipper because... well...

Because he was pretty certain he was in love with the girl.

Navi watched her father turn and pad out of the room, not another word to anyone. She waved goodbye to the penguins before running after him. It wasn't long that she spotted him, not very far away from the fans, hunched over. He was deep in thought, confused about a new predicament. Pole had barely begun to think about it when his daughter pounced onto his back. He laughed and bounced her up and down.

She was his little girl, and wouldn't change the young polar bear for anything. She was his own little hell-raiser now, a trait she inherited from her mother, who had stayed back up north when he decided to go on a recon mission in the zoos of America. Navi wanted to go with him, and that was that; the pair headed to New York, to actually visit Skipper and find out what was doing. But General Pole had gotten captured on his way there by that slimy sack of fish bait. He was just pleased his daughter made it out okay. He finally caught the cub and held her fast in his paws.

"Well now, little one... you've been through some adventures, haven't you?" She gave him her biggest grin and nodded, then preceded to tell him all about the zoo in New York, and Skipper, and Marlene, and the zoo, and the battle of the giant HumEx, along with the normal ones, and her contribution to the fight, and the zoo, and her very first very best friend... She seemed to constantly mention how nice the Central Park Zoo was. He laughed. The girl had spunk, he'd give her that. "And what's this business of you carrying the penguins?" He sounded jolly, though if they had made her their little mule....

She waved it off, explaining that carrying Skipper was a special occasion, since he was hurt, and Private was small enough anyway, and she liked giving him rides. It was like playing with a younger brother. "Uh... Navi, he's older than you, you know that, right?" She stared at him with those clear blue eyes until he divulged farther. "He started molting by the time you were born. He's a good while older than you, but you're a bear... so you're bigger." Navi looked insulted. She didn't know he was older!

One paw slammed into the other, and she tried to look angry. Pole just thought she looked adorable... "Well, I'm just going to have to get him back for misleading me, then. When we get back to Central Park, I'm--" Her muzzle was clamped together by her father, a new, stern look on his face, one she wasn't used to. Navi had only seen him this way twice before: When her mother decided to stay up north, and when one of his subordinates almost hurt Navi on accident.

"Nevisaundra..." And he almost NEVER said her real name. "You're not going back to Central Park. We're going home." Her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach, and as soon as the awkward silence passed the "just kidding" time mark, she squirmed out of her father's gasp. "I though you knew!" he shouted. He realized a little to late, as she looked like she was about to cry, that that response may not have been the right one. Some tears started to fall down her face, and he tried to comfort her. "Navi, we have to alert the troops. I... I have to get help, I have to start working again, we need to get help so this can get better, dear heart." He called her that when he was really sorry for something. But this... this just wasn't like him. She tried to ask him around her tears if he was replaced with a HumEx. When he assured her he hadn't (showing her his neck), she couldn't help but ask if she could stay.

He gazed into her eyes, and asked her why it was so important that she stay, her answer was provided without missing a beat. "General, you're family, and I love you, I always will. And the penguins are my friends now, which is good, 'cuz I have friends. But it's not because of them or you that I want to stay. When I first got there, I knew it was my mission to rescue you. And I did that. That doesn't mean my mission is over." Pole watched his daughter bow her head, seeing her in a new light. She was growing up. "My fallen comrade, never forgotten, never left behind." Ah. Marlene. The General had heard the whole story and was grateful for the brave otter's sacrifice on his, his daughter's, and his troop's behalf. Even though she now had some memory problem. "I have to help her. She'd do the same for me."

This meant he, the General, now had a decision to make. He could just tell the girl no, that she had to go back with him, where ever he was needed... but her values, her ethics... they meant so much to her... and after all he went through to instill them in her, he couldn't rip them away like that.

Big paws ran over a military flat top buzz cut. He had decided. "I'll think about it, and tell you in the morning before they leave." Navi looked away, and nodded in agreement, then hugged and thanked him. Really, that was the fairest thing to do right now. She left, wiping the tears from her eyes. The General was alone again. And it was surprising how much he didn't mind it.

Around sundown, everyone was called from their various spots in the sewer to find out what happened with Marlene's brain, and if she'd be okay. Pole put his cell phone back in a compartment in the collar around his neck (Conveniently used to get the medic van's there), and went inside. There, Navi and Private were conversing quietly, as were Rico and Skipper. They gave him various greetings, and he sat down, and waited with the rest of them, until they were allowed into the girls room. She was asleep, and Rico and Skipper rushed to each be on a side of her bed. Pole, Navi and Private took their own places, and the doctors plus Kowalski, who looked very official and pleased with himself, pulled out some pictures for everyone to see. 'Just like when this started...' Navi thought, remembering the first night she met the penguins, and told them about her mission. Marlene was shocked, but eager to help, and even though she did a great job... she had gotten hurt so badly in the process. The polar bear wanted to help her get better, no matter what. Never leave a fallen comrade behind.

The doctor indicated to the first picture, which showed the bluish dot on the otter's neck. "It's been confirmed... through certain test samples... that this is the HumEx serum. Through a blood test, we've determined that the ratio between the amount of serum given to her and the amount given to the crabs is approximately 3:1. They gave her three times the normal dosage, and that alone should have done some permanent damage to her, physically. How it didn't is a mystery to us."

A second picture was of a normal red blood cell, and a red blood cell that was affected by the shot. Compared to the normal blood cell, the other was purple, much bigger, and seemed to be vibrating in the picture. "A little less than half of her blood cells are now HumEx cells," The doctor paused when he saw Kowalski jiggling up and down in excitement. He sighed and shook his head minutely. "So named by Kowalski." He quickly mentioned. The smart penguin looked like he wanted to give a speech, but the other owl scientist covered his beak and allowed the doctor to proceed. "They compensate for themselves, adjusting themselves to her body and her needs. They've only reacted once, and that was when she was having the fit earlier. Other than that... it's not hurting her. Basically, they're nanobots that have attached to her blood cells."

Finally was the picture of the plunger induced three-shot. The shots had semi-paralyzed three parts of her brain: Nervous system, emotion, and memory. She could feel, but not very well. She could only remember new things, her life before was almost a complete mystery, save a very few things. And her reactions would be either inappropriate, or mixed and wild. "When we saw her, she only screamed out of shock. Anything else that happened to her after that... well, it's lucky that she probably didn't feel any of it." Kowalski chimed in after the doctor. He felt privileged to be there, among these other great minds... and sorry that it had to be one of his friends he was examining, like something under a microscope. The brainy bird tried not to think of it that way, and instead thought of it as a test to help a friend. That worked.

Skipper frowned and slid into a more depressed state. In other words, she was a completely different animal. Kowalski studied his notes a little bit and shook his head. "That... may not be the case, Skipper. There's a 64.8% chance she could still be Marlene... she just doesn't remember us. Any of us." He said, bowing his head at the last part. Navi gasped and shook her head, a silent cry of no escaping her mouth. Private waddled up to her, lying a comforting hand on her shoulder and looking up at Kowalski.

"Isn't there a way we can help her, Kowalski? Make sure she remembers us somehow." More note flipping, and Skipper looking over at Marlene, making sure she was still safely asleep. She looked so peaceful and normal, like she did before. The otter was so happy and full of life, and no matter how hard he tried, Skipper could never remember Marlene ever being sad. Kowalski sighed as he flipped back to page one of his notes. He couldn't find a way to make that happen immediately, though it may help if they got her back home and surrounded her with familiar things.

They decided that in the morning, a little after sunrise, which could be seen from the open end of the sewer pipe that lead to the ocean, they'd leave here and take Marlene home. Private asked Navi if she was excited to be going back home, but she didn't answer. He told her all the things they would do for fun when they got back, which just made her sadder, until it was announced that everyone should go to bed. In the morning, they'd head back in the car, and maybe, hopefully, things would go back to normal.

------------------------------

Review, questions, comments, critiques, lobsters... all are welcome.


	3. Laboris Gloria Lubi

A/N: This was written after 1, 2, and 4. Honestly, I couldn't think of anything to put in here. I almost started writing 5 before I wrote this one, and I don't know why it was so hard. Hopefully, it won't be crap. If it is, maybe that'll give you more initiative to review.

_**Chapter 3: Laboris Gloria Lubi (Work Hard, Play Hard)**_

Pole woke early to find Navi on the floor. He didn't move from his bunk, but spoke to her from there. "Listen, Navi... I thought about it all night... are you certain you want to go with them?" She only partially looked over her shoulder, throwing him an insulted look from behind her ribbon. He chuckled. "Alright. I had to make sure... because you are going back with them." It was instantaneous. Navi screamed and jumped into her father's arms, and he gave her the biggest hug he could.

"Thank you, Dad." She whispered, holding him as closely as she could. Pole wanted to shove a thousand life lessons into what little time they had left.. but he had to trust she could handle being on her own without him there to protect her. He held her a while longer, only managing to tell her how proud he was of her, and how happy he was that she stuck to her values. She smiled behind his back. Her father had been hardened by the military and the harsh words left with them by her mother. Through all of that, he never treated her any differently. She was a free spirit in a world of order... and her bright rays of light were usually welcome. Navi knew that it may be a long time before she saw her father ever again, so she put everything she had into that hug. As well as... "I was gonna go, even if you said no." She blurted out.

He pulled her away, looked her straight in the eyes, and smiled. "I know. That's why I said yes." Her grin was shy and together, they climbed off the bed, meeting Skipper at the door.

Navi scooped him up and hugged him, obviously giddy. "I get to go back with you guys, isn't it great!?" She said, running out, probably to tell the rest of the penguins.

"I didn't know she wasn't. That was an option?" He asked the General, who looked very stern at the time. Leaving his daughter, his one and only cub in the hands—flippers—of someone who just got finished being a cub—hatch-ling—himself wasn't very reassuring. In fact, it was downright scary. So when General Pole swore to him that if anything ever happened to his daughter... if she even got a boo-boo on her littlest finger... Skipper would pay for it for the last five minutes of his life, he thought he was within his right. After all, he thought as he walked away, the guy needed to be put in his place. This outbreak caused Skipper to stand there for several seconds, trying not to burst out crying, or do anything unmanly and wimpish. It wasn't until his flock called him that he was able to break out of his stupor and slide to meet them.

The doctor was talking in hushed tones with Kowalski while Navi and Private celebrated the fact that she would be staying with them. Soon after he appeared, so did Marlene, being lead out by Rico, who looked happy to have his friend back. The otter simply looked... and watched... and stared... and listened. She had never been outside the medic van before. At least, not that she could remember. And the penguin named Rico was nice enough to take her out. It was nice out here. Another penguin slid up to her, and Marlene swore she heard something, a voice, inside of her head. He is nice, it told her, and his name is Skipper. You can trust him, too. Just like Rico. On the inside, she nodded. Okay, she told the voice, and allowed Skipper to introduce himself to her. It seemed odd for him, the female realized, to be introducing himself to her... again.

Navi and the General said a few last minute goodbyes, and both were told to be careful by the other before realizing that they'd be okay. They both had friends where they were going, and they'd be okay in the end. The General stayed with the medic vans and saluted his goodbye to the penguin troop. They were good birds, he knew they would take care of the girl. Meanwhile, he would be on the ocean with the vans in cargo ships they'd sneak aboard at the harbor, before docking in Maine to get reinforcements for this predicament. The HumEx threat was still very real, as Doctor Blowhole and Hawkins were running around somewhere, plotting, planning, waiting for their moment. They'd get it too, of this there was no doubt. So Pole had to go, and find them... and finish what he, the penguins, his daughter, and Marlene had started.

The car was started almost noiselessly, and everyone loaded in. Rico and Kowalski in the front, Skipper, Marlene and Private in the back, and Navi riding shotgun in her wagon. They all waved a final goodbye to the doctors and the General, and headed back up the sewers to get home.

…..............................

Maurice wasn't certain he could take much more of this. Being a polar bear and having to pretend an otter toy is real was harder than he thought. But it was better than what Mort had to do. Silly wobbles and using three other stuffed toys as friends was harder than just one. And the humans (especially Alice) were getting suspicious. He could only hope the penguins were going to get back soon. Meanwhile, Julian was becoming intolerable! The ring-tailed lemur got less and less amused with his subjects being away and more and more bored and needy. Those penguins needed to get back and soon, or else he'd... well, he'd do something.

He walked back into the otter habitat just in time to see Marlene being helped up by Skipper, the other penguins and Navi nearby. "You're back! Oh, thank goodness! I couldn't take this for another day!" He said, pulling off his polar bear outfit. Navi just laughed, commenting on how it only looked easy. He broke down and told them about a set of kids who wanted to see 'cute' constantly, and wouldn't leave him alone, much to everyone else's amusement. Marlene just watched, curious as to what a lemur was doing in her more aquatic habitat. It was her habitat, correct? That's what Skipper told her. The lemur finally left to go get Mort, and Kowalski, Rico and Private went with him, to make sure everything was in order. Skipper said that it would be like nothing changed, except they would be working on finding Blowhole, and keeping an extra eye out for Marlene.

Navi seemed excited to have to help take care of her, and wanted to do her best to make sure Marlene was alright. But all Marlene wanted to do was relax and take it easy. "Okay, Marlene." Skipper said, patting her on the back. "Well, whatever makes you happy." She smiled up at him, offering her thanks, and he blushed. "I... it's no problem." With that, the penguin left the girls alone. It was quiet then for a while, as the young polar bear removed her ribbon and stretched out. This whole excursion left her exhausted, and she couldn't wait to get back to a normal day job of entertaining tourists and locals alike with her adorable charades. Unfortunately, today wouldn't be that day, as the zoo was closed on Sunday's. In the time it took her to look back at what Marlene was doing, the otter had already pulled out a small portable radio from somewhere, and was setting it to a channel. The strange thing was the way she was doing it: almost mechanically, systematically, with a set station in mind. But... how could she know?

The room was soon full of music, and Marlene was staring at the radio, as if it held some great truth for her. Navi wasn't sure if this was normal for her, or if this was a recent development, but she watched too, interested. Kowalski did say that they had to keep a close eye on her, and make sure any and all unusual behavior was documented. She didn't write it down, she just... watched. A new song came on, one Navi didn't recognize, but she very much liked after a while. It seemed to bother Marlene, and after a couple of verses, Navi knew why. "How can one song so accurately portray current feelings?" She asked the bear, startling her. "Do they know? What happened, I mean." The younger animal shook her head no, explaining it's just the song they chose to play at the time. "But... That's what happened to me, isn't it? That's..." She didn't go any farther as the song faded away, and another one started to play.

It was a sadder song, which made Navi cringe. She wasn't sure if this was what Marlene needed right now. Of course, the otter didn't look like she was having any sort of problem with the song, so she let it go on. That is, until she reached the end of the second verse, when Marlene's eyes began to tear up a bit. "How sad..." She muttered, reaching up to wipe her own eyes. The other female began to panic a little. Marlene wasn't supposed to get stressed, because of what happened last time. She looked at her face, and by this time, big, heavy tears were dribbling out of her eyes. "Why didn't he just tell her how he felt before... why?" It was a sadly funny and adorable sight, however not very helpful to Marlene. The next song Navi KNEW was a sad one, and as quickly as she could, she switched off the music and suggested they check on the penguins, to which Marlene tearfully agreed.

They got outside, and it was bright and sunny, still fairly early in the morning, and Navi was glad to see the penguins outside, practicing with ken-do sticks. She turned to Marlene, who, it looked like, was chewing a large wad of gum. Several awkward seconds of watching her chew, the otter finally... hmm... Even though Navi was watching it right then, it was hard to describe, really. She didn't spit it out, more like... she opened her mouth a crack and pushed it out with her tongue, it being a clam, still in the shell, covered with saliva. It landed with a sick plop in Marlene's open hands, so she could examine it further. "My food is problematic." She mumbled to a very disgusted Navi.

For a while, it was all the polar bear could do to just watch her struggle with the slimy clam and not make any noises or throw up. Finally, she took the clam from her, shivering from head to toe. "Why don't we just, ah... aaahh..." She groaned. Holding the spit covered thing was more than gross, but she swallowed everything she would normally do, and smashed the clam on the ground, where it broke into two very nice halves, one of which had the meat inside. Marlene scooped it up and pulled out the mussel, before slurping it down. 'Never again. NEVER again.' Navi thought, not hiding the shiver that rattled her bones.

Marlene over at her, her eyes strange and almost empty, it nearly freaked the bear out. "What's never again?" Navi started, and looked around. She could have sworn she thought that... She shook her head and told her it was nothing, before taking her hand and bringing her to the penguin habitat, where she could see Mort and Maurice yelling at Julian to shut up. Navi smiled; they were right, of course. They had a long 24 hours or so, it must have been very rough to pretend to be a polar bear, otter, and a group of penguins. When they got there, the penguins greeted Marlene heartily, and she seemed to respond well to it, waving back a bit. They continued with the rest of the exercise for that day, and when they were done, each penguin handed back their ken-do stick to Rico.

Each, except for Private and Skipper, who held onto theirs when Rico came around to them. "Actually... Maybe we should have Marlene give us a lesson in what she knows." Kowalski immediately objected, stating that it would be a terrible and maybe even life threatening mistake. As per normal, however, Skipper didn't listen. Well, he did, but he did what he wanted to anyway. "And besides," He said, handing Marlene his stick so that she could spar off with Private. "Maybe this could bring a little bit of before-Marlene back to us." It was a long shot, but if now-Marlene could still remember how to fight, maybe she'd remember other things about herself too.

They looked at Marlene, who was examining her stick very carefully, like it was something to be treasured. Navi and Rico went to stand beside Skipper and Kowalski, and waited to see what was going to happen. The lead penguin had to show Marlene exactly how to hold it before they started, and on his mark, they got into their ready positions.

Private made a passive thrusting motion at her, which she dodged and spun out of the way of, looking at him with the same big brown eyes she had when she first walked up to them, curious and wide. He looked a little put off, but proceeded forward with another jab and thrust, which she both dodged and blocked, respectively. The boy frowned. He was one of the best sword-fighters there, and he was losing to Marlene. Somehow, that didn't sit right with him. He began throwing out more and more rapid attacks, each she either got out of the way of, or blocked, throwing him back. She, however, never made an offensive move.

When Marlene blocked one of his more difficult moves, he became even more frustrated. Not at the otter, or the fact that he was losing, but the fact that she wasn't really fighting back, and he was losing to a shield. He made a quick sweep with his stick at her feet, which she jumped over, then made a swipe at her side. Marlene was just fast enough to push it away with her stick, but he ended up hitting her on the shoulder anyways. Up until that point, Marlene had been having a good time. It was almost like a learning experience. Not to mention... It was strange, she could hear everything that Private was about to do. It was like a cheat, yes, but... she didn't ask the voices to tell her, and she didn't attack back. Well, she hadn't been planning on it, anyway. Until the hit.

It didn't hurt, was the strange thing, but the fact that he had even done that... struck her like that... it was … Angering. Enraging. She swiped back, and Private jumped away. How could she miss... _Try again... don't miss._ A different voice told her. It sounded angry at her, and she was angry at her, as well. She jabbed, then thrust... and he blocked both of them. _DON'T MISS! HIT HIM! Get him!_ She roared out, and the peanut gallery gasped, shocked at her sudden attitude change. Private had to work double time just to keep up with her, and when she heard the first voice telling her he was going to fall, she took advantage of it.

In the moment it took him to get his balance, she had slid behind him and whacked him hard in the back, causing him to yelp in pain. She then jumped back, and, with a mighty yell, she hit his waist, and the back of his legs, causing him to fall over. It was all he could do to roll over onto his back with a weak moan... and then to see Marlene hovering above him, a murderous, very much NOT Marlene look in her eyes... it was scary. She raised the stick high above him, and just as it looked as though he was going to be a penguin kabob, another stick came in and halted hers, albeit just barely.

It was Skipper, using both of his flippers to stop her one paw. "Marlene... don't you think you've done enough?" She growled at him, and backed up... then quickly started throwing swipes and jabs at Skipper. "I guess not..." He fought back with increasing vigor, matching her hit for hit. She was starting to get more angry, the penguin noticed, and he had to stop this soon. After stumbling a little bit once, he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up. A loud scream alerted him to her next attack. She was going to try and jump him and attack from above. He threw himself onto his back and kicked her up and over to the other side of the plastic ice burg they called home.

Navi rushed up to Marlene, checking her out. "She's out cold." She glanced up the lead penguin, who was waddling up to the pair slowly. "Skipper... what just happened? Did Marlene just go crazy?" He looked at her curiously and shrugged his shoulders, allowing Rico to take the two ken-do sticks, and Kowalski to help get Marlene into their headquarters. They'd deal with the rest of this there.

Brown eyes opened to see five sets of blue ones varying in tone looking at her. "Hey guys... what's up?" Marlene asked, sounding like she did before the tests happened. Skipper and Kowalski wasted no time in telling her everything that happened, much to Navi and Private's disapproving looks. She stared blankly until the story was finished, then raised an eyebrow. "Okay, guys... very funny. That doesn't even sound like something I'd do. Private." He squirmed a little when she looked at him, and the otter grew concerned. "Private! I wouldn't do something like that. W-would I?" She thought back... back as far as she could.... to the voices that told her what to do... the ones she obeyed without question. "I did something bad... didn't I?"

Now-Marlene was back, and she sounded more scared than anything. Rico patted her on the back, causing her to jump a little bit, but she stayed where she was. Then the room was quiet. Skipper couldn't believe what had just happened. It was because of Blowhole that all this was even going on. And as soon as he found out what he did... He would have that dolphin's dorsal fin. The lead penguin watched Kowalski talk to Marlene, asking her if she wouldn't mind giving him a blood sample to run some tests on. She said no fearlessly, and the scientist of the outfit took out a small needle (Skipper closed his eyes) and drew a good bit of blood. It looked like a strange dye experiment of red and purples. Kowalski would run some tests on it that day, and Marlene would be free to relax at home for the rest of the day.

The otter bowed her head and almost ran out of the penguin hidey-hole, leaving the scientist to do his analytic work, Rico to watch some TV with Private, and Navi glared at Skipper, who, when he looked over at her shifted in shock. "What!? I didn't do anything. Why are you looking at me like that?" Navi pushed a paw at his chest and nearly knocked him over.

"You know what. You hurt her feelings." He rolled his eyes and scoffed, expecting her to just drop it. But she didn't. "Skipper, you've got to know that no matter which Marlene it is, she still has feelings. And as none of us know what's wrong with her, you might need to go and... you know. Talk to her. Apologize. Make amends." She yammered on about it, but Skipper wasn't having it.

It's too bad that Private decided to join in. "She's right, you know, Skipper. S'not like she meant to do anything bad. It just... happened, right?" Rico even joined in with a few yeahs of his own.

Everyone was getting on his case about this! He didn't even do anything. But fine. Since it was such a big deal, and since it was SO important, he decided that he could talk to her. Tomorrow. Which, he told his troops, in the mean time would give Kowalski plenty of time to work on an antidote for Marlene's condition, and Rico and Private to work on whatever fighting moves they needed to practice on. He sat down with the others, and Navi, after a fashion, to watch TV, until the polar bear had to go to sleep. On her way out, she elbowed a "friendly" reminder to the back of his head, making sure he wouldn't forget what he had to do in the morning. He waved her off, his assurance that he wouldn't forget. Waiting until morning would clear his head of what had happened that day.

It would also give him time to think of what to say.

-------------------------------------------------

A/N: The next chapter is my very very very VERY VERY VERY favorite chapter. Out of this story anyways. I love it, and if I could post it today, I would. But if you're nice, and leave lots of reviews, then maybe I'll post it sooner than later. Questions, comments, reviews, pancakes... all are welcome. Also, I'll be leaving to visit my parents, so I won't be able to post anything for another few days yet. However, if I find lots of reviews... or even pancakes, then I'll update this sooner, and you'll get to see the greatest chapter thus far... sooner!


	4. Amor Et Melle

A/N: This is my favorite chapter right now. I wrote it ahead of chapter three, so if anything's off, tell me. It's my very favorite because of the dialogue that goes on between Skipper... and himself, along with everything else that happens with this chapter. It's a blasty-blast to read, so go ahead, and don't forget... review! Also... LONGEST CHAPTER SO FAR!

**_Chapter 4: Amor Et Melle Et Felle Est Fecundissmismus (Love Is Rich With Honey And _****_Venom)_**

The male took a deep breath before entering the otter habitat's small cave the next morning, and when he did, he gasped. Countless books lay open on the floor in a circle, and in the middle was Marlene, spinning like a bottle to read each and every book. She was alone, which meant Navi must have sneaked out to explore the zoo or something. He stared for some time before asking her what she was doing. She only answered when she was facing him, like a pointer on a compass.

Marlene looked up at Skipper. "Reading." At which the penguin was shocked. He didn't know she could read. Her honey-brown eyes met his again, and she bowed her head, submerging herself in her books once more.

"That's good. I'm glad you're doing something you enjoy." He said, not sure really of what else to say. He honestly didn't think Marlene could read before. Was that one of the side effects? He would have to remember to tell Kowalski so he could write this down.

It was odd, this whole thing was like... "I couldn't read before, could I?" Marlene asked, surprising Skipper when she closed one of the books with a heavy thump. He turned away from her and shook his head. How she knew was a mystery to him, but what did it matter now? "It's alright. It's not like this is one big science experiment or something." Her voice was so quiet, and so innocent that he forgot to be shocked that she had just said that. Because... he was just thinking it really WAS like that. Skipper turned back to her, and noticed she was picking up the books to put them away. He knelt down to help her, and when they got them all off the floor (Apparently, she had been very busy with the books.), she wrapped her arms around him.

Hugging Marlene now wasn't like hugging her any other time. This time felt different. Like... static and warmth and cold all at the same time. She pulled away, much to his displeasure, and looked him in the eyes with those big brown ones of hers. "Thank you, Skipper." Her voice was so low now that he almost had to lean in to hear it. And, if he didn't know any better (he didn't), he would think that he actually DID lean in (He did). "You're such a great friend. I'm so lucky to have you."

All at once, he felt two things: Fear and insurmountable joy. One, that was not something that before-Marlene would say. As a matter of fact, she would call him psychotic for a while, then shove him out of her house. Two... the way she said it made him basically melt! Her voice was so soft, but full of something he couldn't exactly place.

The doctor's voice spoke up in his mind. First softly, then as loud as a train whistle in the night. '_Her emotions may be inappropriate, or wild and mixed..._'. But this was MARLENE! He knew her, and she wouldn't say anything she didn't mean... His common sense awoke in the back of his brain, which, unsurprisingly enough, had the voice of the doctor. '_She's not in her right mind now. It could be disastrous.'_

Yeah, but he knew Marlene, and it'd be okay in the end...

'_It's sick and wrong... and you know it. She's only acting like this because of the HumEx serum.'_

It's Marlene's mind, not the serum, that's thinking these thoughts. The serum's just... bringing it to the foreground, that's all.

'_Look at her, Skipper! Is this REALLY what you want? Some wolf in sheep's clothing!? She's not normal __right now, it's not fair to her! And if you take advantage of this, you'll be putting your own moral standing in jeopardy, not to mention you'll lose the respect of everyone you know and love... even her.'_

He looked at her. All of her. And realized that his common sense was right. Whatever was going on with Marlene had to be dealt with professionally. Besides, now-Marlene was possibly having an episode, and him being there was not good. Who knew what could happen later, what she would do next. "Would you sit with me for a while? I want to read you something." Everything, even his head, said to say no. Just say no, and walk away. Find Kowalski, make him fix this, just say no, right now. Say no...

"Okay." The word was out of his mouth before he could stop it. The female next to him smiled in a way he'd never seen before, and grabbed his flipper, pulling him to sit right next to her. She pulled out one of her biggest books, and set it across both of their laps, basically pinning Skipper to the rock beneath him. He grunted and tried to get comfortable. "A little tight, don't you think?" Marlene giggled, and he couldn't help but think it was the prettiest sound he had ever heard. A few pages flipped of their own accord until Marlene touched a page with her finger, and started reading to him. He wasn't a hundred percent sure WHAT she was reading... but it sounded REALLY nice. Every now and then one or both of them would look up and smile, then go back to looking at the book, and Skipper was so engrossed in the sound of the words, that he hadn't noticed the female sliding closer and closer to him... then resting her head on his shoulder.

Needless to say, now the penguin's blood was pumping, his heart beating faster than he ever thought it could go. He had only just begun thinking of a way to excuse himself and not seem like a total jerk when Marlene reached up and stroked his cheek to get his attention. He looked over... and she kissed him. Just like that. For a full twelve seconds, he felt his brain switch off and his body go numb. It only switched back on when Marlene leaned back to look at him, and laugh at his face a little bit. And it was lucky for him that he got back in control, because she was about to kiss him again, and he couldn't risk it this time.

He might not have gotten out of it. He held her back and tried to leave, but she held his arm. "But you like me. And I like you. I don't understand, what is the problem?" Skipper tried to think of an excuse while Marlene tried to shift herself into his lap. "Don't I please you?" Oh, geez...!

"That's not it at all! I mean..." He watched her deep brown eyes search his own, and for a second, he wanted to just go back to kissing her... And his common sense was just sitting back, watching him struggle. _I told you what to do before, and did you listen? No. Deal with it._ "You... I feel... you... p-please... me..." Why was the room so hot!? Skipper needed to get out, and fast, or he'd do something he knew he'd regret later. Heck, he was regretting it now, and he didn't even DO anything yet. "You please me, okay, it's just..."

Her voice was still so soft, so unsure. "Then what... Skipper?" Skipper wanted to stay and tell her it would be okay, but...

In the end, it really wouldn't. "It... I... just don't think it would work out right now." He said, a cold sweat falling from his brow. He kept trying to pull his arm away, and was finally successful, a feat he wanted to celebrate... until he saw the otter's face.

Let's just say she was very much not happy. "You're lying. You're lying to me. Right to my face... how could you?" Tears welled up in her eyes and Skipper started to look around frantically, now completely uncertain what was going to happen. He swallowed a big lump in his throat as the book she was reading so beautifully floated from her lap to a closed position in the air. "I thought I meant more to you than that." Her face hardened, and the book threw itself at Skipper, grazing him on the side of the face and giving him a very nice gash he would have to explain when he got back to HQ. "I guess I was wrong." The book floated up again, and Skipper barely got out of there without another huge cut on his face or even elsewhere.

Marlene sat on the floor, tears still falling fast. Even though she wasn't a hundred percent clear as to why she was crying in the first place. She looked at a book on the floor, and flipped it over in her hands before noticing one of the corners had blood on it. Her gasp echoed around her as she dropped it, scurrying away from it like it was contaminated with something. Tears fell faster and harder as they got thicker. What was happening to her? Her head hurt, there were so many voices, they wanted her to listen, and she couldn't remember... The otter fought the urge to scream right then and there, knowing it wouldn't do her any good. Every time she wanted to remember something, she kept having these blackouts... it felt as if her brain would just shut off, just like that time she left the zoo. A sudden ache told her she couldn't remember that either.

_It's alright. It's just you and me here, after all._ A voice she recognized seemed to whisper. Marlene relaxed, knowing that every time she heard that voice... she would go to sleep. And she felt so very tired, despite the fact that she had just woken up.

The bird didn't stop running until he was safely inside of his home, gasping for air and very aware of the blood running down his face, as well as all the eyes on him right then. Navi was the first to come up to him with a paper towel and some bandages.

"Skipper! Holy night, I told you to check up on Marlene, what did you do!?" She yelled, cleaning his wound. It wasn't bad enough to be bleeding, now he had to get yelled at (thus causing a massive headache later, he was sure) too.

He told his troops the story (except for the kissing part, he did NOT need anyone on his case about that too), and by the end they were stunned. "She threw a book at you... by levitating it? What, like a witch?" Navi asked, putting away the first aid supplies. She hadn't done as good of a job as Rico, but she was still in training, and Rico was in the bathroom at the time anyway. He came back just in time for the story, and even he was shocked.

Flopping into a chair, he shrugged his shoulders, and allowed Private to give him his favorite coffee mug. Kowalski jotted something down in his notepad and put the end of the crayon to his beak. "I can only deduce that you should probably not visit Marlene anymore, Skipper." He looked around, and judged by Navi, Private, Rico, and Skipper's dubious looks that that wasn't going to happen. The taller penguin made some adjustments and sighed. "At least, not alone."

That everyone could deal with. Kowalski looked at his notes again when the rest of the group was starting to watch TV. Marlene's emotions were like a roller-coaster in the dark without a beginning or end. And she was starting to go more and more haywire each time. Last time, she had almost skewered Private, then this time she had come close to giving Skipper a concussion. Shaking his head, the taller penguin set down his notepad and kneaded the bridge of his beak. What had become of the Marlene they had known before? Would they ever get her back?

-----------------------------------

A dark laboratory with many computer screens lighting up the area was barely a hide out... but it would do, thought Blowhole. He looked at one of the screens, which, like all the others, was monitoring the HumEx. They were back, and Blowhole couldn't be more pleased. At least, he didn't think he could until HumEx Ultima flashed on the screen. He pushed the grunt out of the way and stared at her vitals over the past almost 48 hours.

"I see you've found Ultima, sir." A familiar voice behind him. Hawkins pushed a button on a small remote, and the screen Blowhole was looking at was projected onto the wall. "She's been faring quite well, sir, given the circumstances." Before the dolphin could ask, the projection switched. It was now a graph, showing-- "There have been three significant spikes in her emotion levels... one each day for the past three days." Blowhole gave him a look that clearly said "duh." and which was emphasized by him actually saying it. Hawkins cleared his throat and continued. "The first was minor, but it was still something. The second was much larger, as was the third. Those are what we are concerned with."

The evil doctor couldn't help but ask why. Hawkins knew this was coming and hit the remote again, showing another graph alongside the first. "Well, as you know, all HumEx are made to function without emotion. Ultima's emotions were compromised when she was pulled to early, so she still has them, albeit, they are unstable and out of control." At this, Blowhole became enraged.

"I thought you said ve vah still in control!" He yelled, holding the bird's neck against the wall with one flipper. This insubordination, he supposed, is why most villains choose to work along. He could have killed him right then and there, but it would be too messy, there were witnesses... he dropped the hawk onto the floor and splashed a cup of water onto himself. "Now tell me, please, in ze next six seconds, vhy I should not kill you."

Mr. Hawkins gathered himself, mentally cursing the doctor beside him. He would get revenge someday. But right now... he had a project to finish, and he liked to complete whatever he begun. "Ultima isn't in control." He said simply. Now he was worth listening to. Blowhole stopped looking as though he was going to kill him, and he continued. "Her emotions are hers to control, and it is true we have no way to get access to them, however her mind belongs to us. Any decisions she makes, we can watch... and alter." The timing couldn't be better for a clip show. The tantrum in the medic van... the sparring match... the kiss... they had seen it all, and Blowhole was almost giddy with delight. Not only was she in Skipper's head, she was in his heart.

It just couldn't get any better. "The reason we tell you this is because tomorrow, Ultima will have a mental breakdown. It's almost assured." Almost? The chances that she wouldn't...? "Very slim, sir. She's going to have the breakdown, it's part of the HumEx serum. She has to be under our control, or the serum starts to break her down, making her obey, hence the fits. It will be the perfect time for us to get her back. She will be confused... easily manipulated... ours." Blowhole wasn't a hundred percent sure he understood. He wanted to make sure this tantrum actually happened. He asked what caused it, and Hawkins couldn't help but grin. "The first time, it was anxiety and confusion, very minor. The second time, anger, rage... and a relentless urge to kill. Our doing through cerebral suggestion, of course. The HumEx inside of her is emerging more every day, making her vicious... the perfect fighter for us. Finally, today... Her latest tantrum was caused by desire. Lust, in other words. It seems she has strong feelings for Skipper she barely subconsciously remembers." But Blowhole barely cared about that. As long as he could get his weapon, and destroy the humans, he was happy.

"Sehr gut, mein untergebene. Zen, ve shall position ourselves near ze penguin base, unt vait for ze next trigger. Not long now boys..." He turned away from them all, feeling the need for a nice swim. "Not long now." Hawkins' emotion on the outside was steely and unchanging, no matter what Blowhole said. But on the inside, he was cringing and angry. Ultima was his project, his to be in charge of, not that oversized tuna's. He was right about one thing... they didn't have much longer to wait. When the time was right, Blowhole would lead the charge... but Hawkins would go home the victor.

-----------------------

A/N: I love this chapter! Tell me what you think, review! I shall take them all in stride. Love you all!


	5. Totus Tuus

A/N: This chapter has a lot of science stuff at the beginning, but it's all relevant to tie everything together. Ahh... and... Look, lemurs! And rain! Hooray. Also, I just finished this WHOLE story! Yay! It's done, there are TWO more chapters after this one to look forward to. I'll post them in the coming up week. Thank you for the reviews on the last chapter, also, that was really nice, it made my day, ALL of you, seriously. I'm going to ask for more reviews. But I won't feel as bad this time if I don't get that many. Last chapter was hard to top! Also, I lied. Chapter three was the longest so far.

_**Chapter 5: Totus Tuus (Totally Yours)**_

As the day turned into night, the sky darkened. Not because it was night time, but because it was raining. Thunder could be heard across habitats, and all animals were indoors for the day, causing the zoo to be closed on a Monday (AKA, Funday). If something didn't happen soon, they would lose money. The rain went from drizzling to full on storm mode in the course of six hours, and so by three o'clock in the afternoon, the lemurs were watching the rain splash down from the only place they could find shelter—the penguin habitat. You can only imagine Skipper's face when they told him they had no where else to go.

That, and he owed them for the extra hours of work they put in as their doubles. Skipper let them come in reluctantly, firmly reminding them that everything (except the TV and a few snacks) was off limits. When he was positive they understood, he walked over to Kowalski, still working on Marlene's predicament. "How's it going, Kowalski? Did you find a cure yet?" The brilliant brain studied some things on his notepad before sighing loudly, probably for the tenth time that day. He was iffy on whether her problem was even CURABLE or not. He held up the test sample of blood he had collected from Marlene, and studied it. It was still red and purple, mixed together, and Skipper had to ask why that was.

"The doctors never got to finish injecting the serum," He said simply. "She needed more than the crabs and they didn't realize it at the time. So, now we get this lovely slurry of different colors, instead of just one purple or even blue. It indicates as well that the HumEx serum hasn't completely taken her over." That gave Skipper a ray of hope. Though, when he asked if that meant before-Marlene was still retrievable, Kowalski only shrugged. "I don't know, Skipper. We've seen her though. So she is in there." The scientist paced a little bit around the room, slightly annoying the lemurs, who were trying to watch their shows. "The serum didn't completely take her over," Kowalski repeated, "That's why there seems to be two Marlene's. One we know, and one who seems so child like, unstable, and different. They are different."

All of this was starting to boggle Skipper, and he didn't like it one bit. Kowalski, therefore, put it in simple, laments terms. It was as if there's a switch in Marlene's brain. Flip it up, you get Marlene. Flip it down... Well, let's just say that recently, it's been down a whole lot. Though that seemed to give Kowalski a little hope. "What we really need to do is find out a way to get rid of the HumEx cells inside of her. She's not all HumEx, which is why she's still normal, and not like the crabs." The crabs were fully conditioned to be human killing machines, mind and body taken over by the soldier-creating injections. Even though their mind control was destroyed, they had been harshly brainwashed... at least, so Kowalski believed when he analyzed one of the escaped HumEx. No matter how much they tried to convince it to be normal... all it wanted to do was...

It had to be put down.

Facts were all very interesting, but what about the levitating books? And the thoughts? When Kowalski asked his leader to elaborate, he spilled. Even about what Navi told him, when Marlene heard something the bear was sure she thought in her head.

"Sounds to me like Marlene is turning psycho." Julian said. Skipper glared, but in all fairness, the self-proclaimed king was on to something. Well, he was close, anyway. "I am?" He asked, very surprised before he regained his composure. "I mean... of course I am. The otter is psycho, and now, she must be do-ded away with."

Of course, no one was going to "do away" with Marlene. "What I meant to say was... Marlene's brain's been messed with... it's not impossible that she developed some... extra special skills. Telekinesis... telepathy..." Skipper scoffed at the notion. Of course it was impossible, it sounded down right science fiction-y. "Skipper, I built a space-ship out of a trash can, and got it up in the air." The leader didn't get the connection, and Kowalski rolled his eyes. It would be easier to try and treat Marlene than to have to explain this to the shorter bird. But they'd have to hurry.

Doctor Blowhole knew exactly where Marlene was. And Kowalski would bet anything he would soon be coming to retrieve her.

Marlene and Navi sat on the floor of their cave, watching the rain fall and talking of things from their past. Rather, talking of things from Navi's past, as Marlene firmly believed that she didn't have a past. On one topic, talking about the youngster's mother again, her friend turned to her with wide eyes, and it was clear that she was very sad right then. As Navi was about to stop telling her the story, Marlene suddenly asked her something that surprised her. "I've done bad things... haven't I?" The question itself was fairly basic. And the answer was... well, it was yes. Not like she did them on purpose though, it wasn't her fault she was now turning into something else. In the second and a half it took the polar bear to think these things, Marlene's face went from inquisitive to just plain distraught. And the half a second later, familiar thick tears began to fall down her face. What else could Navi do but wrap her arms around the otter and comfort her in any way possible? "I... Didn't mean to do anything bad it... It just happened." Her voice was squeaky and if Navi didn't know any better, she would think Marlene's nose was running all over her fur. "Why am I like this, Navi?"

If there were any way she could answer the question, any way at all, the less painful, the better, Navi would have. Her brain was drawing a blank at that point in time, and the only thing she did was make some weird noises that spared her having to answer. Looking down her front at the small otter, she finally thought of something to say. "Marlene--" Unfortunately, she was interrupted by a giant belching noise coming from the sewers below them. The otter in her arms squirmed a bit, before Roger poked his head out and yawned widely. You can only imagine the head of a giant sewer gator poking out, now it's mouth is wide open, and with no other thought in your head, you're bound to think... That thing's going to eat me.

And so, a very frightened Marlene ran, screaming, from her habitat, into the pouring down rain.

"What? What did I do?" A very confused and concerned Roger asked. Navi spared him one disgusted look while wiping snot and tears off of her fur, before running into the rain after her friend.

Marlene didn't get far, as there wasn't very far to get. She did manage to make it to what looked like a safe pen, which is where she stopped and tried to catch her breath. Unfortunately for her, it was Joey's pen, and he didn't like visitors in his area. Not one bit. He charged up to her, snarling and growling something fierce. She screamed again, and closed her eyes, not wanting to see the face so close. Of course, Joey wasn't going to hurt her, just ask her what she was doing there. He didn't hit girls. Marlene didn't know that, however, and, to add to the list of things she didn't know, she sent out a massive wave of energy. One that pushed Joey backwards hard enough to hit his own head against the wall, and knock him out, and one that reached all the way to the penguin habitat... and beyond.

"DOCTOR BLOWHOLE! DOCTOR BLOWHOLE!" One of the grunts rushed up to him in his tank and stole his attention away from the magazine he was reading at the time (Evil Weekly, or EW for short.) He spluttered and frowned, cursing the small hawk and making sure he had an important reason for being there. "Doctor... Ultima... It's time." Good reason. He smiled and let out an harsh cackle.

"Mine is unt evil laugh! Now... ve take ze helm. Release ze HumEx 2's, and prepare. It ist our time." The HumEx 2's were the second line of HumEx... the biggest ones, very trained on killing and obeying Doctor Blowhole. This time, nothing would go wrong. He had everything right where he wanted it. Soon, so very soon, he would have his revenge. Hundreds of HumEx were dispatched from Ellis Isle, which was where Blowhole's hideout was under. They charged the city streets, just as large as the average human... and more than twice as nasty.

People screamed at the sight of them, and for a good reason, too. They were hideous, misshapen, claws snapping and mouths foaming. No matter how fast they ran, though... they couldn't escape them.

So many people were injured that night... and even more lost their lives. Blowhole watched from a monitor in his underground layer, loving the chaos and destruction, and even more loving the lessening of humans. Hawkins appeared behind him, announcing that the helicopter was ready for his boarding. A small pulse of energy reached him, telling him that he was to go. It was finally time. This time, Skipper wouldn't win.

"SKIPPER!" Navi slipped through the top hole and landed with a plop onto the floor at Skipper's feet. He was about to climb up the ladder and find out what was going on with the weird winds. The other three penguins had headed out through the secret entrance.

The lead penguin was sincerely startled by Navi's sudden appearance, shouting out some strange cry. "BWAH!" Navi arched an eyebrow, but ignored it for the most part, and asked him if he had seen Marlene anywhere. "Marlene? I thought she was with you..." He said slowly. The polar bear quickly explained what happened, causing Skipper to sigh. "Hoover dam... And the energy pulses... those were probably her too." He deduced. A pretty accurate assumption, seeing as how Kowalski wasn't there. The bear just stared curiously, having missed the entire lecture given by the scientific penguin before. Then it was Skipper's turn to explain what they had found out. By the time he finished, Navi was squirming in her fur, and the other boys had just gotten back.

The television flickered, since it was still on, but receiving very poorly. "...Giant...mutated crabs... ev—they're everywhere!" The penguins and Navi turned slowly to face the television, and couldn't believe their eyes. HumEx. Hundreds of them. All bigger than any they'd ever seen before. And scarier too. "You're advised... Oh my g--!" The anchor woman jumped and ran away from the horrible sight in front of her, a HumEx had seized a human and was now... It was too horrid for words. "Advised... Advised t-to stay i-indoors... We need help... SOMEONE HELP!" She screamed as she, too, was grabbed, the camera focused on her and the HumEx, before it threw her off screen and charged after her, no telling what it was going to do.

No words were exchanged. Nothing could be said. The team knew what they had to do, and just as Skipper was about to tell everyone the plan, another sharp energy pulse shook the headquarters. It became apparent, they knew they had to find Marlene before she went through a complete mental break down. They got out and looked around, seeing that the rain had finally slowed down to a drizzle, and not seeing the serum inside headquarters, bubbling and starting to turn more and more purple and blue. Another powerful pulse, and another, then a third came from the kangaroo cages. Navi gasped, and rushed toward the habitat, the penguins surrounding her and keeping up the pace. And when they got there, they didn't fail to notice a large helicopter above them, coming in for a landing.. and containing the evil Doctor Blowhole.

Navi didn't stop to look at him, just tried to reach her otter friend. But, when she could finally see the female... it looked like it was too late. She sat, head bowed and eyes on the ground... every few seconds she would sniffle and hiccup or gasp, and a new wave of energy would burst from her very being. The bear walked up to her, but was hindered by a large hawk swooping onto her and scaring her just enough to get her to back off. She shouted, causing Marlene to look up. Big mistake. "It's time, my dear." Hawkins said, bringing her to a standing position by her shoulders. Skipper slid up to him, glaring menacingly.

"Think again, fly boy." He said, hoping that was as much of an insult as he meant it to be. The hawk only laughed and held Marlene closer to him, much to Skipper's outrage. "Let. Her. GO." Growling threats didn't seem to work, however, and the bigger bird frowned, pushing Marlene back and out of the way, so that she stumbled, but stood still.

The penguin couldn't help but thinking how much this guy was going to get it later. "You still don't understand, do you, Skipper? She doesn't belong to you anymore. You left Ultima, she's ours now." The other penguins looked around at each other questioningly. Ultima?

As always, Kowalski had the answer. "Ultima. Latin for 'best', 'ultimate', 'greatest'... The ultimate HumEx." He said, finally realizing what that meant. "But she--" Rico elbowed him, a serious look on his face. The hawk probably didn't know Marlene didn't have enough of the serum in her to be a real asset to them.

"Hmhmhm. Ah, finally figured it out, did you? Ser gut, jah." Blowhole had taken notable refuge in the penguins habitat, and was using a blow-horn to amplify his voice. "Vell? Vas are you vaiting for, bring zem to me!" Hawkins raised an arm and five smaller HumEx appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. They grabbed the penguins and Navi, and shoved them all into one cage, big enough to house them with barely enough moving room. A giant HumEx took them from there, and led them to its dolphin leader, Hawkins and Marlene following behind. A cautionary glance from Skipper saw Marlene's eyes looking down and unfocused, and she was being held too closely by that hawk... He felt his flipper curl into a fist, but he didn't say anything.

He looked back around, and all too soon it felt like, they were back at their own habitat, with an all to pleased smirk on his face. "Skipper, Skipper, Skipper... vhen vill you learn... I alvays vin. And now... I shall be taking ovah. ALL YOUR BASE ARE BELONG TO US!" He smiled at Marlene, whose eyes were still downcast. "Hawkins... let's... break in Ultima, shall ve?"

The bird looked over to the otter female, grinning malevolently. "Tchya... see, I don't really like the sound of that. It sounds waaay to bossy. Ultima," The otter looked up, and Skipper shrank back at the dedication in her eyes. And for that... bird-brain! "What do you think of the idea?" She frowned, and glared at Blowhole, extending a hand. The dolphin was confused, but that went away shortly, as he was lifted from the water, much to all the animal's shock. "I knew you wouldn't like it either. You see, Blow-hard... I did what you said long enough. I'm tired of being your untergebene. Maybe I'll try being in charge." He adorned a false shocked face and put his wing to his beak. "But wait... we can't have TWO animals in charge, now, can we, Ultima?"

Her eyes narrowed and she raised her hand higher. "It's getting very crowded in here." She squeezed her paw into a fist, and watched as Blowhole twisted and thrashed, making ghastly, awful noises. Private looked away and Navi shrank back, covering her eyes as Blowhole's spine was crushed. He fell onto the walkway, eyes glazed over, limp... dead. Marlene... No. She wasn't Marlene anymore. The test sample in the lab in the penguin's headquarters was blue... except for a speck of red, barely visible to the naked eye, still fighting against the invasive HumEx cells.

Up above, Ultima looked over to Hawkins, who was nodding in approval. "Very nice, Ultima. Not exactly my style, but... I wouldn't have changed a thing, darling." Skipper growled again, yelling threats to the hawk and what would happen if he touched her. That didn't stop her from wrapping her arms around his neck, and putting her head on his shoulder. The hawk just smiled and patted her on the head, and even Rico was beginning to feel angry. "Now, isn't this familiar? Maybe we should take a twelve second time out, eh, Skipper?" Skipper's eyes bulged and everyone looked over at him, confused. Not answering their confused glances, he swore to get Hawkins, no matter what. Of course, his evil enemy didn't pay attention to any of this. "Poor Skipper. Blowhole was right, you are a nuisance."

A feathered wing wrapped itself around Ultima's waist and she (to everyone's horror) grinned up at him. "I don't think there's enough havoc going on, my dear. What can we do... to change that?" She whipped a paw around, and a giant crunch told the zoo that the gates were open. "Yeah. That's a good option! LISTEN UP!" His voice echoed around the zoo, magnified somehow. "Anyone... who is tired of the humans and their infuriating reign... is free to leave the zoo, and come with us. Join us, and take over the world!" Several squawks, growls, roars and hisses told them that many of the more dangerous animals would join him, to his pleasure. "However... those of you who are more comfortable staying here, are free to. We won't force you to join in."

Private saw this as a ray of hope. "Well, that's nice of him, isn't it?"

Riding on a rhino, Hawkins started to leave the zoo, his newest project in his lap, being held closely to him, before he stopped just shy of the entrance. "Oh, but if you do stay... know that you will be crushed by the... Oh, I can't decide, sweetheart, which do you think, the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building?" Everyone gasped and made a mad dash for the exit, even before Ultima suggested that a woman's wrath is mightier. "What fun! The Statue of Liberty it is! I love how we think alike." He said, the rhino losing no time in leaving the zoo, and the four penguins and one polar bear, behind.

-----------------------

A/N: As always, I'll ask you to review. Next chapter, what happens with Ultima? And the zoo? And where are the lemurs? And does Skipper finally tell his team about the kiss? Am I asking all these questions so you don't have to (pdragongirlj!)? ...maybe. And remember.... all your chocolate rain are belong to evolution of dance. Untergebene means underling in German.


	6. Experimentum Crucis

A/N: More action in this chapter, and I don't apologize for the hasty killing of Blowhole. I don't know what I'm going to do with Hawkins, it'll be determined later, though. Marlene and Ultima are two different people. Remember that, 'cuz it's going to get ca-ray-zee! Funny chapter, full of awesome. Not the longest, not the shortest.

_**Chapter 6: Experimentum Crucis (A Crucial Experiment)**_

Navi watched at the last of the animals hurried out of the zoo. "This... is... AWFUL! What are we supposed to do now? We can't get out of this cage, we're gonna be squashed like bugs, and Marlene's half in love with that... icky... slimy... son of a--" She held her tongue, but everyone was thinking the same thing. They were trapped.

Even Rico had tried to blow up the door, but it didn't budge. "Technically, she's not even Marlene anymore, Navi." She looked at Kowalski with very sad eyes, and the other penguins looked back at him, too. "I didn't see any sign of our friend Marlene in her eyes... that was the HumEx Ultima, through and through." Skipper groaned and kicked the door to the cell, which only vibrated and caused excruciating pain in his foot. While he was hopping around whimpering, Kowalski decided to bring up something that had been bugging him since Hawkins had first mentioned it in passing, it seemed. "Skipper?" His leader looked at him from the floor, since he was massaging his aching foot. "What did the hawk mean when he said 'twelve second time out'?"

All at once, Skipper felt his face fall and every eye in the cage turn on him. He gasped and stuttered for a while, trying to convince Kowalski he had heard wrong. Finally, when the taller penguin wouldn't back off about it, he sighed, and told them the missing part of the story, and the kiss between him and Marlene.

There was no mouth that was closed by the end of his story. Navi, Rico and Private looked disgusted, and Kowalski just looked plain shocked. Private was the first to say anything.

"Ew! Skipper... Pardon my saying so, but... that's just wrong!" Navi and Rico both agreed, berating him as much as they could without resorting to violence.

Yet.

Navi couldn't believe her ears. To hear him even ADMIT to doing that... not to mention he didn't say anything about it before... "Skipper, I have to agree with Private. Honestly, how could you!? That's gotta be one of the worst things I've ever heard you say you did! ICK!" Skipper put his head in his flipper, and sighed.

This is exactly why he didn't say anything. He didn't want all this mess. In the back of his mind, he could hear his common sense laughing at him, singing "I told you so, I told you so, I told you so!" over and over again. It wasn't until he opened his eyes that he noticed the fish bowl wiggling... and finally sliding out of the way to reveal three lemurs, all looking exhausted. The king jumped out.

"Mort, next time, you must push with legs, like I did. Now, where are those lazy bird penguins... their TV is broked!" He looked over to the cage and almost couldn't control his laughter. Then he totally lost it and laughed uproariously. "Silly penguins and bear, why are you in a cage? Is it a new game you are playing?"

Skipper growled and almost told the ring-tail to beat the road, when he realized this place was going to be crushed unless they actually got out of the cage and did something to stop Hawkins and Ultima. He promised another week of television to the lemurs, as well as unlimited snack access if they could get them out of the cage, to which Julian quickly obliged. Meaning he offered Mort and Maurice to pick the lock for him. With two lemurs working on it from the outside, they were bound to get out in no time! Skipper was feeling more upbeat now... that is, until Navi spoke up again. "Twelve seconds!? I just realized... He kissed her for TWELVE STINKIN' SECONDS!"

The penguins (except for Skipper, who was rubbing at his temples) all made various noises, and now that the lemurs were there, they wanted to know what happened, and who was kissing whom. "Skipper kissed Marlene when she was all... psycho and not normal. And for TWELVE SECONDS!" The door finally sprung open, and the lead penguin rushed out, very tired of being accused of doing something he was only partially guilty of.

Julian stood in front of him and stared accusingly at him. "But was it not you who said things should be taken slow with Marlene while she recovers from this sickness? Or were you taking advantage of the poor confused otter?"

And now ring-tail was on his case!? He didn't even do anything... kinda. "But... but she kissed me! SHE kissed ME! And what was I supposed to do, just... say no? She was reading and it was... beautiful and articulate. I can't be held accountable for my actions after that."

Kowalski seemed to come out of some deep thought he was in to ask his own questions. "Did she really say that 'do I please you' line?" Navi came close to gagging, and Private just looked around, confused. He wasn't really sure what that meant exactly. But Rico knew, and he just kept shooting murderous looks at his leader, one flipper beating into the other in a steady rhythm. Skipper flinched with each pound Rico made, then nodded. "Wow. You're in this pretty deep, aren't you? Uh... sir." Kowalski hid his face behind his clipboard, so that no one could see his snickering at Skipper's expense.

It was then that Maurice decided to share what he thought of the situation. "Well, isn't that... special." He seemed to put a lot of emphasis on the word 'special', which slightly irked the lead penguin, but he didn't say anything, since he was just likely to be berated again.

"Listen, we can get on my case for kissing Marlene later." He said, causing Navi to grin mischievously. He knew exactly what that smirk was for: he admitted to kissing her. But that was a problem for another day. "Right now, we have to stop Ultima from destroying the zoo, and get everything back to normal before the HumEx take over the entire world!" Skipper yelled. All faces were back to being focused, except for the lemurs, who looked very confused. There was no time to fill them in now, but when they got back, Skipper swore he would let them in on whatever was going on. "Right now, we're going to need... an antidote."

The city was gray, and wrought with the smell of smoke, and panic. Of course the humans were panicked. The HumEx were going after them, after all, and their primary mission was to destroy. Hawkins watched the slaughter with mirth in his eyes. He was in love with the chaos he had created. That's right, he created. Not Blowhole, although he did provide a good deal of the funding. No, he created it, that mammal was just a figurehead, to be overthrown by his creation. He looked over at Ultima, who's eyes were on the city and completely emotionless. The girl was amazing... powerful, smart, obedient, and all his. What more could he want in a female? Even though...

A small frown crossed his face as he continued to study her. There was a moment when they were leaving the zoo when she looked back at it, and for almost a second, he thought he saw her cry. Of course, that was ridiculous. She didn't have feelings now... did she?

"HAWKINS!" He heard his name being yelled from dozens of stories down, but he didn't need to see to know who was calling him. It was that annoying penguin he locked up. Well, he supposed, it was only a matter of time before he got out of his prison. Whatever. In a few seconds, he'd be dead. He looked over to Ultima, who was now sporting a pair of knives in each hand and looking deadly. She flipped off of the roof top, and he took off, leaving her to her own devices.

She landed softly on the ground in front of Skipper, on one knee, head down. For a while, no one said anything... Then she struck. Propelling herself from the ground, she dove toward Skipper, knives in her hands and bared like claws. She growled and tried to bury the knives into his chest, but he pulled out a steel rod, and knocked her to the side. He had a wild moment where he thought that would be enough to make her go back to normal... Though, when she roared and charged him again, it confirmed that that wouldn't be near enough. They kept fighting, and the plan advanced to stage two: Get the flying menace. Rico and Navi were all over that job, as they saw him leave his roost and were aiming to shoot him out of the sky at Skipper's signal.

The lead penguin jumped over Ultima with ease, and threw her backwards again with a cry: "BWAH!" That, of course, was the signal. With Rico loaded full of Werther's Originals, Navi pulled back on his flipper and let fly the deadly little candies. She wasn't aiming to kill, though she could, if she wanted... simply to maim or injure. The bird was quick... but not quick enough, and one of the sugary sweets hit him in the joint of his left wing. It cramped up, and he struggled to at least keep from falling at a deadly speed. He hit the ground harder than he would have liked, and examined his wing before glaring up at the bear and penguin. "You couldn't just leave well enough alone. Or better... just die." He flicked his arm out, hard, jolting it back into place with just a gasp. "Unfortunately... I can't be stopped." Hawkins ducked just as Private went to hit him over the head with a lead pipe, then swung out his leg in a roundhouse kick the young penguin was just fast enough to avoid.

Ultima and Skipper, and Hawkins and Private were all still fighting by the time Rico and Navi got down the stairs. She looked at her cohort. "You should take the hawk. I'll work with Skipper and Ma—Ultima." She stuttered, still very unconvinced that Marlene had turned into such a horrible nightmare. They took off into two different directions, not really coming up with a plan, just hoping some good would happen. As he reached his new fight, Rico did the only thing he could think of against the flapping, flying menace. He tackled the hawk just as he was about to punch Private in the face, trying his hardest to keep him pinned down while the younger bird tried to find something to tie him up with. Navi, on the other hand, was holding tight to Ultima in... are you ready for this? A giant bear hug, the biggest she could give, all the while, the otter was making near glass-shattering shrieks and squeals, trying to get out and destroy the penguin before her and the polar bear behind.

Several bones creaked as Skipper pushed himself up, and wiped the blood from his beak. Ultima had definitely thrown him for a loop, she was stronger than he had initially given her credit for, and much faster, too. When he stood up and felt air displacement from an energy attack, he looked around, and saw the otter struggling with Navi, yelling juicy swears, her hair all on end, legs kicking and flailing about as if she were drowning. He slowly approached the pair and stared Ultima down, until she spit in his face. Disgusted (obviously), the penguin retreated for a second just to wipe it off, and stepped back to her again, and tried to calm her down by reminding her of who she really was. "Go to hell!" She yelled, trying to arch her back and get loose. It didn't work, but still she tried. "You both will PAY... you won't get away with this, and I swear I will have my revenge!" Ultima let out a blast of energy, almost dislodging Navi's arms from around her frame. Another blast lifted every animal in the area off the ground to some extent and pushed them away from her. Hawkins used this opportunity to get loose from Rico, and was then confronted with both the psychopath and the softie. Unbeknownst to him, both were trained and very deadly fighters.

And where was Kowalski, you ask? Back at the lab, the only penguin that could actually put a stopper on the madness was working his flippers to the bone trying to find the antidote. When he reached the headquarters, the little speck of red had flowered into a full blown 1/3 of the vial. According to his tests, this would happen inside of the real Marlene over the span of two weeks. Of course, she would have to be in suspended animation, pretty much, for the affects to even BEGIN to take effect. And he knew they didn't have that kind of time, or energy, or even resources. He had to find something that would either speed up the chemical reaction, or speed up her metabolism.

At first, he thought trying a few Red Bulls would do the trick.

Of course, when the antidote reacted badly with the HumEx cells in her system, and caused them to move at super speed, then completely burn themselves out and leave nothing behind... Just about anybody could conclude that antidote wouldn't go anywhere.

Kowalski rubbed at his eyes. He was so tired. Being up the entire night before, not to mention heavy training the DAY before, and cleaning THAT day, and, oh yeah, the whole... cage ordeal just a few hours ago... Given the circumstances, yeah, he was pretty darn tired. And it was the worst kind of tired. It was the kind where no matter what you feel like doing, no matter what you do, how many times you stand up, sit down, turn around, dance about... you can't get un-tired. It was the FINAL kind of tired. The... the end tired. If he didn't get to sleep soon, he was very very VERY through. He'd end up falling asleep on the antidote, passing out on his way to give it to the others...

Shaking his head, he got back to work, muttering to himself, "Need to find the cure... need to find the cure..." Even though he wasn't sure that he could. He worked, faster, longer, harder than he ever had before, and just as he was on the rim of breaking down and blacking out... Something miraculous happened.

He found the cure.

------------------------------

A/N: Don't you dare forget to review. I have ONE chapter left, and I can hold out longer than you can! Review! Or you'll never find out what happens! MUAHAHAHA! I know, I'm being very evil, and you know what? I like it. Okay!? I LIKE IT!


	7. Tu Fui Ego Eris

A/N: THE LAST CHAPTER! Of this story. Since you guys are so awesome, you get TWO chapters! One as a bonus! YAY! Give yourselves a pat on the back, you guys are just that awesome! It took me a while to even get to work on this chapter. But here it is! Already working on two other projects, songfics is still going, even though I haven't gotten many contributions, and I have a life I'm supposed to be attending to somewhere. Ugh, I need cereal. Can't think without... Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

_**Chapter 7: Tu Fui Ego Eris (I Was You, You Will Be Me)**_

The city was falling, and everything was in ruin. General Pole stepped out of a boat and onto the harbor, not to far from where the fight was happening. It looked worse than he could ever even imagine. His soldiers stood behind him, awaiting his signal, but it never came. He couldn't even think of weather to dispatch them, or just have them wait for all the good they would do. Using his powerful nose to weigh the situation, he tried to get a feel of how many humans were actually around. Light breezes held the smell of fear on them... as well as... Something else... Blue eyes widened. He knew that smell. That was his little girl. His arm sliced through the air, giving his soldiers the signal. If his little girl was close, and fighting, she might need help.

And he would dispatch every single troop he could for her.

Navi, on the other hand, was laying on the ground, her body bruised and covered with bumps from Ultima's constant kicking and energy blasts. And those things hurt at close range. The feared HumEx was currently in a battle with the penguin leader, and she was doing a number on him. Anytime he would hit her, she would hit him back, twice as hard. Only to have him try to reach for the otter inside of the beast.

HumEx didn't have souls, Ultima thought, currently executing a roundhouse kick on a defenseless penguin. So she shouldn't feel bad about beating up on a creature weaker than she was, right? Her logic made her smile, and as he tried to call her Marlene again, she punched him square in the beak. "Stop. Calling. Me. That." She said angrily. Whatever and where ever Marlene was, it wasn't here and she wasn't it. Marlene was gone, and she was probably never going to come back. "Don't you get it, you stupid penguin? I am Ultima. A HumEx. Why are you working so hard to change that?" She was curious, and her programming demand that she find answers for her questions.

The blows stopped long enough for Skipper to answer her question, albeit with a few breaks to gasp and wheeze in between. "You... aren't evil. You're not like those other HumEx. Wh-why do you think... Hawkins keeps such a clo-close eye on you?" Ultima paused. The feathered, flightless bird had a point. She was special. And why did Hawkins keep an eye on her? Wait, was he saying... was Hawkins afraid that she was going to turn on him? Remember something that could cause her to turn traitor? "Ultima... listen to me, please." She did, but she was timing him. The second he said "Marlene", he was toast. And she didn't mean soft on the inside, crunchy on the outside and good in a jam. "Ultima.... For whatever it's worth... I'm sorry." Well, that definitely wasn't what she was expecting him to say. "I'm sorry you've had to go through this all. It wasn't... your fault. That's all."

Something hit her just then that made her stop and think. What he was saying touched her, she thought... before a curious stinging sensation made her actually realize that something really HAD just hit the back of her head. She reached back and felt it... a dart. That lousy penguin tricked her! Just when she was about to turn and attack him... she collapsed in a dead faint.

When her eyes fluttered open, Ultima was back in her cave... or at least, what looked like her cave. It was torn in half, a thin jagged line of white light separating the two halves. On one side were pictures she didn't paint, a guitar she never knew how to play, and places she'd never been to. The other side was covered in pictures of HumEx, with just one big one of Hawkins, looking menacing. As she stepped over to it, she heard a familiar voice. "I wouldn't go over there if I were you." She turned around, and found herself face to face with... herself? No... her eyes held something more... this must be Marlene. "Hi." She said softly. Ultima took a step closer to her, not sure if she was real, or just a part of her imagination. "You know, you could have a seat if you wanted." Why was this otter being so nice to her? She sat down anyway, but she wasn't positive she trusted this new creature. "So you're Ultima, huh?" she asked. When Ultima nodded, Marlene smiled. This creature was obnoxiously happy, the HumEx noted. "Nice to finally meet you. So... can you tell me where I've been this whole time?" Ultima was taken aback by the sudden question. She wanted... her help?

Ultima told her everything she knew, from the moment she woke up to just then, and even the things she didn't, like the times she blacked out after a big tantrum. "Huh... well, yeah, that makes sense." Marlene said. "Those black-outs are the only thing I actually remember." So she was the one that took over when things got bad. When Ultima looked over at the HumEx side of the cave, it was darker, and.... was it her imagination (doubtful, did she even have an imagination?) or did Hawkins get scarier? She asked Marlene why she couldn't go over there. "Well, because it's not a very nice place. I tried going there once. Watch." The otter stood up, and Ultima wanted to tell her to wait or stop. For some reason, she felt very much attached to her other side. Marlene reached a hand past the white line, and for a second, nothing happened. Then, one of the HumEx from the pictures came to life... or at least, it's claw did, and tried to pull her through to the other side. Hawkins' picture started to laugh, and for the first time ever, Ultima grew scared of the sound. She held her head for a second and pulled Marlene back, causing the pair to fall over. "Thanks. But that's why you can't go over there." This otter was insane!

"You could have just told me that." Ultima said. She was now sure that this otter was missing a few crayons from her box.

Marlene just smiled. "Maybe. But would you have believed me?"

"YES!" Why did everyone think she needed to be held by the hand and shown everything? She wasn't a little pup, she was a HumEx warrior, she was smarter than the average being. She could read, for crying out loud. "What is wrong with you!?"

"What's wrong with you!?" Ultima was knocked speechless by the statement, and tried to make sense out of what she was saying, but she spoke again. "I know you're confused, and scared, but try to understand, I want to help you."

That got on Ultima's nerves. Did anyone even ask HER if she wanted help? No. And yet everyone assumed that she needed it. Except Hawkins, which was why she liked him. "What are you even doing here, anyway? I thought all your organic cells had been taken over."

Marlene just shrugged and walked over to one of her paintings. It was of a moon and a lake, and it was very pretty, to Ultima, anyway. She stood next to her counterpart and looked at it. The longer she stared, the more it seemed to have a life of its own. "I don't want to die." Marlene's voice seemed so small and frail, and the words seemed just as breakable as she really was. "I never stopped fighting it, because I don't want to die. There's... too much I have to do first." She sniffled as Ultima just watched her. Was there a purpose to why they were both here? Was this it? "I don't want you to die either." That part was really shocking.

"Really?" Ultima didn't know what to say. None of the other organic lifeforms seemed to want her around.

"Yes, really. You're... well, I don't know what you are, but you're a part of me that I don't think I want to lose." Marlene thought for a second. "And I hope that I'm a part of you YOU don't want to lose, too."

Well... being partly organic was.... it wasn't bad. And in this arena, they shared memories, brains... everything. It was kinda like having a sister. "I suppose losing you would be a bad thing." Ultima nearly whispered. It was quiet between the two for a while, and the other side of the cave was growing darker and darker. "Skipper loves me." she said suddenly. Marlene looked bemused for a second before asking where that even came from. "He kissed me. Before, with the books." The memory became bright as day for Marlene, and even she had to laugh out loud. For some reason, that made Ultima smile and laugh too.

After the long laugh fest, both otters were smiling at each other, and Ultima realized that this couldn't go on for much longer. Soon, the HumEx cells would take over, and Marlene would be no more. This whole thing was fun, and she didn't want it to end. She didn't want Marlene to end. It only took her a second to get ready, and she smiled when Marlene watched her curiously, and asked her if she was okay. "Listen, Marlene. I realize now that losing you... it would be a mistake for everyone. But..." Marlene looked at her with big eyes. The HumEx side of the cave was now completely dark, pictures were blackened out, and everything was gone from that side of the cave so suddenly. Strange, Ultima looked like she matched it perfectly... like she was blacking out, too. "I'm not needed. Don't worry." She said, holding Marlene's hand close to her heart. The otter looked so confused, what was Ultima going to do? "I'll still be here. I'm releasing the hold I have on your conscious mind." She said. Taking a step forward, Marlene wanted to stop her... then again, she wasn't sure she wanted to give up being... a being.

"Ultima..." She didn't know what to say, exactly... so she hugged her other side. The pair looked like they were sisters, saying goodbye.

The lights in the room got brighter, as Ultima said her last goodbye. "I'll be on the other side of your mind. You won't feel me, or see me, or know I am there... but I'll be there, I promise."

"I promise I'll never forget you."

Kowalski stood above Ultima, a blow gun in his flippers, and an extremely tired look in his eyes. "Well... Nice timing, Kowalski." Skipper said, trying to pick up Navi. Hawkins was tied up and being lead to the others by Rico and Private, when a loud thumping noise reached everyone's ears. Skipper looked up, and very nearly visibly paled. The General came running around the corner, fangs bared, thousands of soldiers behind him, heading off in different directions to defuse the HumEx bomb. "Ah...f...udge." Skipper mumbled, looking down at the very hurt Navi, and thinking back at what the General had threatened to do if Navi even got an ice cream headache.

He tried to spruce her up a bit, but the General had already seen her. "Navi... no." He picked up his daughter with ease and looked over her unconscious form. "Skipper..." His voice came out in a growl, and Skipper thought his days were limited to mere seconds. "No... Kowalski." The smart penguin's eyes widened, but he stepped forward. Wait, Skipper looked between the two. Was the General going to give Kowalski his punishment? As the General bit his lip, Skipper stepped forward, trying to make amends for the little cub for being hurt. "Skipper... I need to know how many HumEx are out there. You are still getting a punishment for Navi's... current condition." Skipper nodded. That was good to know. Kowalski filled in the blanks about the HumEx, and Pole sent out the last of his troops to make sure they got them all. Hawkins swore, knowing he was done.

"Fine. But know this: It's not over. Skipper, you and I... this... I'm not done, do you hear me!? I am NOT FINISHED!" He said, as two of the remaining soldiers dragged him back to the harbor, to put him into a high security prison somewhere very far away. Of course, as evil nemesis go... that wasn't the last Skipper would see of him. Not by a long shot.

The sun was finally starting to rise over what everyone thought was probably the longest night of their lives. All the animals had to be corralled back to the zoo, any left over humans who had seen the HumEx had to be consoled, there had to be a massive body clean-up, and of course, the small matter of dealing with the late Dr. Blowhole. "Last night was probably the most traumatic night of many people's lives. But as soon as they came, the strange giant crabs have left, leaving the city changed forever. This has been Gina Williams, reporting for channel five news..." Private switched off the telly, and looked around. Skipper, Kowalski and Rico were conversing with General Pole about the past few days with Ultima, Dr. Blowhole, and Hawkins, explaining all that they knew.

Navi and Ultima were still out cold from the night prior, but according to Kowalski, Navi would be okay in no time. As for Ultima... there was no telling when she would wake up... or who she would wake up to be.

A few minutes later, Navi was awake and in her father's arms again. "Hey General. I was fighting..." She mumbled, not sure about how he got there. "But it wasn't Skipper's fault. He had me out of the way, and--" But Pole wasn't going to do anything to him. On the contrary, he was going to leave him alone. In his own words, it would be wrong to hurt the penguin, if he expected him to keep protecting his daughter. Navi giggled at Skipper's shock, while everyone else celebrated that she would be hanging around for a while longer. Now all they had to do was wait for--

One of the otter's hands clenched into a fist. She was starting to wake up! Brown eyes fluttered and were revealed as she sat up and stretched. At first, when she looked around, everyone thought she was looking for Hawkins, and were mentally preparing for a fight they didn't want to go through. "Hey guys. What's up?" Okay, so she sounded like Marlene for now... Kowalski walked toward her, asking if she remembered who he was. "Uhmm... yeah, you're Kowalski. Listen, guys, is everything okay? You're all acting weird."

"We're acting weird? Who are you to say that?" Skipper asked, trying very obviously to get her to spill if she was Marlene or Ultima. Navi rolled her eyes, commenting on the smooth move he made.

After checking that she was still standing, and making sure she was awake by pinching herself painfully, the otter looked more sure than ever that everyone was acting weird because of her. "I'm Marlene, who are you?" She said slowly, trying to play along. This went on for five very painful minutes before she finally just threw her hands into the air. "OKAY, you know what? I'm done with this little... whatever this is, so whenever you feel like filling me in, you just let me know." She grumbled, climbing up the ladder and out of the den.

It didn't take long for her to be tackled from the back, however, by a very excited Navi, who was babbling and, not shockingly, very glad to have her friend and roommate back. Skipper and the others popped out, each wearing identical grins. Finally, they had their friend back, and Marlene explained everything that happened in her mind when she met Ultima. "She says she's still in there... how, I have no clue. But I don't mind." Kowalski took a quick blood sample (Marlene winced a bit, but when he said he had to, she let him.) and found that the majority of her blood went back to normal. The nanobots had simply... gone, burnt out from her system except for a slight few, not enough to make a difference. But Marlene knew where they still were, and smiled. They'd never be all gone, not as long as Ultima was there.

Kowalski and Rico went back into the hide out, to let the General know the good news. The two remaining penguins looked up at Navi when she spoke. "Well, I suppose there's only one thing left to do now." She said. Within the time span of a second, she pulled out her net gun, aimed it at Private, and shot, ensnaring him in a very large net he was struggling against the minute he felt it wrap around him. "That's for being older than me, you jerk!" She skipped into the hole and vanished from sight, leaving a very confused Private in her wake.

"I don't understand, how is that my fault?"

Skipper shrugged and crossed his arms. "Who knows, Private. The female mind is a dangerous and confusing thi-hey!" He felt himself being lifted up, and before he knew it, he was hitting the icy water of his habitat. Coughing and spitting up water, he looked around for the culprit, and saw Marlene smiling and laughing at him. "Marlene, what... you can still do that? But... why?"

Leaning in close, the otter thought hard. "Mmm... Nope. That wasn't me. That was Ultima. And who knows why." She said, following Navi's steps down to headquarters. "The female mind is a dangerous and confusing thing."

**END!**

A/N: Any addition questions that haven't been answered, I'll try my best to answer them. Just remember, most times, if I haven't answered your question, the answer is probably a gremlin did it. Thanks for sticking around, it's been a long and crazy ride, but... well, I hope it was worth it. Questions, comments, Mushroom Pizza, all will be accepted with love! The titles are all Latin, because, well... Ultima's name is Latin. Also, I loved the phrases when I looked them up. They seemed to fit really well. Here are a few that I didn't put in, because either they didn't work, or I didn't have enough chapters. Tuebor: I Will Protect; Mens Polcher: Beautiful Mind; Vince Malum Bono: Overcome Evil With Good. So, that's that! Thanks for reading everyone, and, as always, REVIEW!

**Thoughts...**

It's over. I can't believe it's over. 46 pages! 13 chapters over two stories. Part two is longer than part one, though. That's something. The antidote Kowalski shot Ultima with? Didn't work. Since Ultima is fully conscious of every fiber of "her" being (It's not really hers, she stole it from Marlene) all it did was put her back into her own mind, and let her talk to her other side. In short, she went on a trip, and the nanobots just... avoided the antidote, until she killed most of them and sentenced the rest with her memory, personality, etc into the non-used part of Marlene's brain. Carmen Sandiago is somewhere in France, enjoying all the stuff she stole. Marlene was Hawkin's greatest success, and his greatest failure. Will we see him again? I don't know yet. Humans are so useless in this story. I feel slightly bad. And yet... Not. Ultima knows Skipper has feelings for Marlene, but Marlene doesn't know he has feelings for her. What Ultima LET Marlene see was a memory, but Marlene thinks Skipper loves Ultima, not her. At this, I have to laugh out loud every time. Least favorite character that I wrote in this... is probably... Well, I don't have one. I loved Hawkins though, he's a funny guy. OH! Also! Before I forget. A lot of lines... I used from another place! Now, most of them ARE my original brain workings, but I had a lot of help and inspiration from the show Firefly, which is one of my favorite shows. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't use the "hands of blue, two by two" line, which happened to Marlene. I better go before I start to rant and ramble about which characters here represented which ones from Firefly. Alright, thanks! OUT!


	8. BONUS CHAPTER!

**Bonus! Much, Much, Much later...**

Ultima: Hey, Marlene?

Marlene: Ultima? It's... three in the morning, what are you doing awake?

Ultima: I'm always awake when you're asleep.

Marlene: Is that why I keep waking up with books in my hand?

Ultima: Uh-huh!

Marlene: (sighs) Alright, okay. That's fine. You need to get out sometimes, whatever. What did you need?

Ultima: Do you think we could play with the penguins tomorrow?

Marlene: What do you mean, we?

Ultima: Right, sorry. I mean, Me. In your body.

Marlene: Ah. Well... I don't see why not.

Ultima: Great!

-------------------

The next morning...

-------------------

Ultima: Hey guys!

Skipper: Morning, Marlene!

Ultima: Yes. It is I. Marlene. Your friend that you know is Marlene is who I am.

Private: Uhm... are you feeling okay, Marlene?

Ultima: Yes.

Navi: (very suspicious) You were talking to yourself last night, Marlene, is everything okay?

Ultima: Yes. (Looks over) Skipper, I have an idea. Did you want to play The Rock Game with me?

Everyone else: (Slightly worried)

Skipper: (Excited) YEAH! But I'll have you know, I've been training ever since I watched you and Navi do it.

At the top of Marlene's Rock...

Skipper and "Marlene" are squaring off, waiting for the rock to be launched. Navi tosses the rock, and the others watch from below. Otter and penguin throw themselves off the edge, and Skipper is the first to successfully see and grab the rock, then races "Marlene" to the top. He begins counting, but is caugh off guard by a sudden headbutt to the side. With a grunt, he falls over, letting the rock clatter at her feet. But she ignores that, and picks up Skipper with ease, slamming him back down again. He springs up, and tries a series to punches and kicks to get her to back off. Not even using her powers, "Marlene" is able to see and avoid them all.

Skipper: How are you--

He doesn't get to finish, since "Marlene" has landed a great uppercut to his jaw. He stumbles backwards, and she thinks she sees an opening, but Skipper has tricked her! The penguin roundhouse kicks "Marlene" and she falls flat on her back. When she opens her eyes, she sees Skipper standing over her, holding the rock. He was at seven before her arm whipped out and caught his leg, making him fall flat on his face as she dragged him closer to her.

Everyone down below: Oooh!

Kowalski: How did Skipper not see that one coming?

Private: Do you think he'll be okay, Kowalski?

Kowalski: Of course! He's just leading her into a false sense of security, that's all, Private.

Navi: (Now knows that's not Marlene.) Uhmm...

"Marlene" leaned over him, pinning of his flippers behind his back.

Ultima: Nice try.

Skipper: Marlene...

Skipper tries to move from underneath her, but he can't move. She tightens her grip on his flippers and reaches over to grab the rock, which, unbeknownst to Skipper, flies into her hand. "Marlene" slowly counts to eight, and Skipper tries harder to shake her off.

Ultima: Good game, Skipper.

She then does something no one expects, but everyone watching sees. She kisses Skipper, lightly, on the cheek.

Everyone: GASP!

Private: (Gets his eyes covered by Kowalski) Oh my!

Kowalski: I'm... not sure what just happened.

Rico: Wha!?

Navi: Huh. Interesting.

Private: Kowalski--

Kowalski: Not until you're older, Private.

Rico: (Laughs)

As the game ends, Ultima allows herself to be taken over by Marlene again, all the while lips still on Skipper's cheek, who wasn't focusing enough to be paying attention to the game. She pulls herself up and looks at her hand, unaware that she was just kissing Skipper.

Marlene: What the... (notices the rock) Oh, cool. Did I win?

Skipper: (very dazed)

The rest of the gang rushes up the rocks to see Marlene standing over Skipper, and looking slightly confused and very pleased with herself.

Marlene: I think I won!

Private: Yeeaah...

Navi: (almost doubling over with laughter) In more ways than one.

Skipper: (Marlene's already off his back, but he's still laying there in shock)

Marlene: What's wrong with him?

Navi and Rico: (Burst out laughing)

Kowalski: I believe the correct term here is... Flabbergasted.

Marlene: ???

**End!**

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Marlene: The author would like to thank all her readers for sticking with this story this whole time.

Ultima: Also, she'd like to thank everyone who made this special, by reviewing! That last chapter was really long. It was the longest, I think.

Marlene: Ultima, you're not allowed to talk out of turn, that's no-- Wow, it was long. 3,600 words even.

Ultima: I know, right? And besides, if we were going with rules, I wouldn't even be here, as I have no body of my own, remember?

Marlene: How could I forget, you're sharing MINE!

Ultima: And we're better friends because of it.

Private: Is it my turn?

Kowalski: Go for it, Private, I don't think they'll get any quieter than that.

Private: Oh, alright then. The... uhm... She would... ah... And...

Kowalski: Ideas...

Private: Oh yeah! And if you have any ideas for stories for any of her characters... go ahead and write them!

Kowalski: She will be pleased that you liked her characters enough to write a story about them.

Skipper: What are you people doing? This has been going on for fifty pages now! That's fifty too many!

Private: But without the pages, the story couldn't be told.

Skipper: Exactly, Private. This whole thing was supposed to be classified.

Navi: You're no fun, Skipper! Besides, how would they even see me without this story?

Skipper: They didn't see anything. Rico!

Rico: (Spits out a smoke bomb. When the smoke clears, everyone is gone.)

A voice: REVIEW!


End file.
